The Medication Risk Score serves as a quick and easy way for clinicians to assess which participants are at highest risk for drug problems and require medication management attention. This scoring system was developed over the last five years by CareKinesis and Tabula Rasa HealthCare (TRHC) research and development staff. The measure uses a 0 to 50 scale to evaluate pharmacokinetic risks (related to drug absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion) and pharmacodynamics risks (related to mechanisms of action and drug effects). The Medication Risk Score was validated through data analysis for more than 800,000 individuals and is being used by TRHC in a large-scale CMS innovation model.

In addition to helping clinicians understand medication risks, the score also has been demonstrated to correlate directly with medical expenditures. Lower risk scores are therefore associated with lower expenditures. While conventional models assess risk through analysis of chronic disease and cost, the Medication Risk Score is based entirely on accumulative multi-drug risk, which is wholly actionable by a clinician. These identified actionable medication risks can be then remediated or mitigated by the PACE clinical team and CareKinesis pharmacist.

According to CareKinesis President, Orsula V. Knowlton, PharmD, MBA, “The Medication Risk Scoring system will help our collective teams to become even more engaged with the data, fostering an increase in medication safety.” CareKinesis aims to reduce participants’ risk scores over time, as gradual medication regimen changes are safest. “Our PACE clients want to keep their participants safely in the community, avoiding hospital and facility-based long-term care. These Medication Risk Scores are the measure to allow us to do just that and help reduce medical costs.” The Medication Risk Score launches for use in PACE on September 1, 2017.